This blog questions the very notion of Israel as “the only democracy” in the Middle East, and puts a spotlight on the intensifying struggle for human rights largely ignored by the mainstream media.

We are Israeli, Palestinian and US-based human rights activists who work to preserve and expand democratic rights for all peoples in the region including Israelis, Palestinians, migrant workers and refugees. We believe that claiming that Israel is an “enlightened Western style democracy” is misleading. In fact, there is no true democracy within the Occupied Palestinian Territories and only limited and diminishing democracy within Israel.
A Western style democracy means more than just one person, one vote.   It means full equality of rights regardless of religion or ethnic origin, including the right to express dissent from government policies without fear of harassment, arrest, imprisonment or death.

This is not the status quo in Israel – far from it.  3.5 million Palestinians live under a 42-year long Israeli occupation in the Palestinian Territories. Inside Israel, migrants, refugees, and Israelis of all backgrounds– including Jews–are increasingly suffering the ongoing erosion of human rights.

This blog chronicles the struggles waged by people on the ground, everyday, as they seek to maintain and expand full civil and human rights for all people in the region, even as their lives are shaped, curtailed and directed by the unending Israeli-Palestinian conflict and especially the Israeli occupation of Palestinian Territories.

This blog is hosted by Jewish Voice for Peace. The content is provided by independent bloggers and each post represents only the position of the individual blogger.  Content does not represent the positions of Jewish Voice for Peace or of any other blogger who contributes to the site.

Comments Policy: We read all comments, but only publish a select few that we believe will contribute to the overall discussion about the struggle for democratic rights in Israel and Palestine. Those comments will be featured on the front page of the website. We are beta-testing this system in hopes that it will work for the bloggers and readers, including our thoughtful critics.